properly · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
stroke
בְסָ֑פֶקve.Sa.fek
H5607
chastisement · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
great
רֹבrôb
H7230
abundance (in any respect)
ransom
כֹּ֝֗פֶרKo.fer
H3724
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
deliver
יַטֶּֽךָּya.Te.ka
H5186
to stretch or spread out · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Job 33:24 Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.
Ephesians 5:6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Psalms 49:7-8 None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:
Psalms 110:5 The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.
Romans 2:5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgme…
Psalms 2:5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
Psalms 2:12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trus…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 36:15-23
Elihu here comes more closely to Job; and,
I. He tells him what God would have done for him before this if he had been duly humbled under his affliction. "We all know how ready God is to deliver the poor in his affliction (Job 36:15); he always was so. The poor in spirit, those that are of a broken and contrite heart, he looks upon with tenderness, and, when they are in affliction, is ready to help them. He opens their ears, and makes them to hear joy and gladness, even in their oppressions; while he does not yet deliver them he speaks to them good words and comfortable words, for the encouragement of their faith and patience, the silencing of their fears, and the balancing of their griefs;…
(Num 16:45; Psa 49:6-7; Mat 16:26). Even the "ransom" by Jesus Christ (Job 33:24) will be of no avail to wilful despisers (Heb 10:26-29).
with his stroke-- (Job 34:26). UMBREIT translates, "Beware lest the wrath of God (thy severe calamity) lead thee to scorn" (Job 34:7; Job 27:23). This accords better with the verb in the parallel clause, which ought to be translated, "Let not the great ransom (of money, which thou canst give) seduce thee (Margin, turn thee aside, as if thou couldst deliver thyself from "wrath" by it). As the "scorn" in the first clause answers to the "judgment of the wicked" (Job 36:17), so "ransom" ("seduce") to "will he esteem riches" (Job 36:19). Thus, Job 36:18 is th…
Because there is wrath - This is a time in which God is punishing the wicked; take heed lest thou be cut off in a moment. Redeem the time; the days are evil.
Then a great ransom - When he determines to destroy, who can save?
John Gill on Job 36:18
Because there is wrath,.... Either wrath in Job, so some; indignation and impatience under the afflicting hand of God, expressed by cursing the day of his birth, and by his angry pleadings with God: and therefore Elihu advises him to beware of it, and check this impetuous spirit; cease from his anger and forsake wrath, and fret not himself to do evil, and provoke the Lord to take him away at once, and then his case would be irretrievable. Or rather wrath in God, which is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. His vindictive and punitive justice, to revenge and punish wickedness, the effects of which are sometimes awful judgments on men in this life; and eter…
The Church Fathers
"Anger will come down on the ungodly, because of the gifts that have been the price of iniquity for them. By these presents he designates all the temporal advantages for which they commit their injustices.
Let not then anger overcome thee, to oppress any one, neither let the multitude of places bow thee down. In most manuscripts we find 'gifts;' in a few, however, but more ancient, we find 'places.' But since the expression, Let not the multitude of gifts turn thee aside, needs no explanation, we have thought good that that expression should be rather expounded, which seems to be explained with some slight difficulty. But the pride, which uttered these words, proves of how great haughtiness they are. But, because we have said that Eliu is a type of the arrogant, and blessed Job of the Elect, if we examine them more accurately, we demonstrate how appropriate they are even now to haughty men within the Church. Holy men wonder at the doings of others, even when trifling, but make light of their own doings, even when great. But haughty men, on the other hand, make light of other persons' doings, even when great, and wonder at their own even when trifling, and generally think well of their own misdeeds, but cease not to think ill of the good qualities of others. For while they seek their own glory, they are mischievously desirous, that whatever virtue is performed by others, should be scarred with the brand of iniquity, and a weighty deed of goodness they pervert into a taint of guilt. For frequently, when they behold the wicked severely punished by the Church, they unjustly make a kind of complaint that the innocent are afflicted, and they miscall the splendour of its discipline by the appellation of iniquity. Whence Eliu, representing the arrogant, as if admonishing Job, says, Let not anger overcome thee, to oppress any one. For whatever is done by Holy Church with the censure of discipline, haughty men consider as an emotion of anger. And because, from their desire of human praise, they are ever anxious to appear kind, they consider that none should be corrected with strictness and severity. Whence also, as was before observed, they consider that those are oppressed, whom they see restrained from sin, against their will, even by righteous rulers. But the Lord having been the cause that Holy Church has grown up with a height of religious power in all parts of the world; they assail, and ascribe to sinful pride this very temporal power, which it exercises rightly. Whence Eliu subjoins, saying, And let not the multitude of places bow thee down. As if it were said…
Dictionary and topics
Ransom · Of a man’ s life — Of a man’ s life
Redemption · The present life, the only season for — The present life, the only season for
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
16 And He even bringeth thee out of the jaws of distress
To a broad place, whose ground hath no straitness,
And the adorning of thy table shall be full of fatness.
17 Yet thou art become full of the judging of the evil-doer:
Judging and judgment lay hold on one another!
18 For let not anger indeed entice thee to scorning,
And let not the greatness of the ransom mislead thee.
With Job 36:16 Elihu passes over to the application to Job of what he said in the preceding strophe. Since it is usual to place אף (like גּם and אך) at the beginning of the sentence, although not belonging to the member of the sentence which immediately follows, ואף הסיתך for והסית אף אתך cannot be remarkable. The praet.…
dying from lack of understanding: See also 4:21; Prov 5:23; 10:21.
Rashi on Job 36:18
For wrath [There] shall be great [wrath].
lest it entice you [Lest] your evil inclination [entice you to speak] words.
to multiply Heb. בשפק, lit. with multiplicity; [i.e., with] which you multiply and increase your words toward God; and after you have raised His wrath, much ransom, [i.e.,] much money will not turn you away [rescue you] from it.
[MORAL INTERPRETATION] Having given rapidly a figurative exposition of these words, we must now gather their moral meaning; that, having learned the figure of the Church, which we believe to be generally described, we may learn what we may specially gather from these words in each single case. He says therefore, Let not, therefore, anger overcome thee, to oppress any one. Every one, who is required to correct the vices of others, ought first of all to look carefully into himself; lest, while punishing others' faults, he himself should be overcome by his zeal for punishment. For furious anger, under the guise of justice, frequently ravages the mind; and while it seems to rage with zeal for righteousness, it gratifies the fury of its wrath, and considers that it justly performs, whatever its anger wickedly dictates. Whence also it frequently transgresses the due limits of punishment, because it is not restrained by the measure of justice. For it is right, that when we correct others' faults, we should first measure our own; that the mind should first cease to glow with its own warmth, should first control within itself the impulse of its zeal with calm moderation; lest we should sin ourselves, in the correction of sin, if we are hurried on with headlong fury to punish offences, and lest we, who are deciding on, and punishing, a fault, should commit one by punishing it immoderately. For there follows not the correction, but rather the oppression of the delinquent, if, in punishment, our anger extends further than the offence deserves. For, in the correction of faults, anger ought to be under the control of the mind and not its master, so as not to take the lead in the execution of justice, as though imposing a command, but to follow after, as though obeying directions, and to carry out, as if employed, the sentence which has been made known to it, and not go first as if an employer. It is well said therefore, Let not anger overcome thee, to oppress any one. Because, namely, if he, who is endeavouring to correct, is overcome by anger, he oppresses before he corrects. For, whilst he is more inflamed than he ought to be, he rushes unchecked into enormous cruelty, under the pretence of just punishment. And this is frequently the case, for this reason, because the hearts of rulers are too little intent on the love of their Creator alone. For whilst they desire many…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
